Driver found guilty of causing death of Edinburgh cyclist had killed before

Jury returns guilty verdict in case relating to death of 75-year-old Audrey Fyfe in August 2011

Audrey Fyfe pic courtesy Scotsman.jpg

A motorist found guilty yesterday of causing the death by careless driving of 75-year-old Edinburgh cyclist Audrey Fyfe had been convicted of a previous offence 27 years ago.

The revelation was made after the jury returned its verdict in the case of 49-year-old Gary McCourt at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, reports The Scotsman.

At his trial, McCourt had admitted “clipping” the rear wheel of Mrs Fyfe’s bike at the junction of Portobello Road and Craigentinny Avenue in August 2011. The victim had been returning home from her daughter’s house.

He described how he saw her “somersault” through the air, but denied having committed a criminal offence.

Following his conviction, deputy procurator fiscal Lesley Smith revealed his criminal record to the court, saying; “He was convicted in 1986 of causing death by reckless driving.”

Sheriff James Scott has deferred sentencing, which will take place on 3 May, pending reports on McCourt’s character, and said: “On any view this is an extremely sad case.”

Mrs Fyfe had died two days after the incident from the injuries she sustained, and her funeral was attended by around 100 cyclists, many of them in the colours of CTC Lothians, which she had belonged to for more than half a century and where she met her husband of more than fifty years, Ian.

Following her death, Mrs Fyfe’s organs were donated to help others, in line with her wishes.

Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.

Another tradegy, unfortunately I totally agree with Animal nothing will come of it, at most 6 months to a year and then that danger will be back on our roads and the guys attitude will not have changed at all.

I believe that all drivers in the UK should have a compulsory hour a year on a bike in rush hour on an A class road. Most I come across simply have no comprehension of what it is like being a cyclist. Making them do time on a bike in real road conditions could go a long way to addressing this...